Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Idaho State University/English Composition (Summer 2017)
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- Course name
- English Composition
- Institution
- Idaho State University
- Instructor
- Jacob Claflin
- Wikipedia Expert
- Shalor (Wiki Ed)
- Subject
- English
- Course dates
- 2017-05-15 00:00:00 UTC – 2017-06-23 23:59:59 UTC
- Approximate number of student editors
- 12
Welcome
Welcome to our Wikipedia project timeline. This page will guide you through the Wikipedia project for our course. We also have a course page on Moodle, you can find that here: https://elearn.isu.edu/moodle/login/index.php
Please remember that there are readings separate from the Wikipedia project that are posted on the Moodle page, as well as assignment sheets for the essays and links to our forum software.
This page breaks down writing a Wikipedia article into a series of steps, or milestones. These steps include online trainings to help you get started on Wikipedia.
Our course has also been assigned a Wikipedia Content Expert. Check your Talk page for notes from them. You can also reach them through the "Get Help" button on this page.
Grading
Timeline
Week 1
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 15 May 2017 | Tuesday, 16 May 2017 | Wednesday, 17 May 2017 | Thursday, 18 May 2017 | Friday, 19 May 2017
- Assignment - Step 1
- Get started on Wikipedia
- Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you.
- It's time to dive into Wikipedia. Below, you'll find the first set of online trainings you'll need to take. New modules will appear on this timeline as you get to new milestones. Be sure to check back and complete them! These trainings are required for your course.
- Review the following handouts:
- Editing Wikipedia pages 1–5
- Evaluating Wikipedia
- When you finish the trainings, practice by introducing yourself to a classmate on that classmate's Talk page.
- Milestones
This week, everyone should have a Wikipedia account.
- Assignment - Step 2
- Evaluate Wikipedia
It's time to think critically about Wikipedia articles. You'll evaluate a Wikipedia article related to the course and leave suggestions for improving it on the article's Talk page.
- Complete the "Evaluating Articles and Sources" training (linked below).
- Create a section in your sandbox titled "Article evaluation" where you'll leave notes about your observations and learnings.
- Read and review the following Wikipedia articles:
- As you read, consider the following questions (but don't feel limited to these):
- Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
- Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
- Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
- Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
- Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
- Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
- Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
- How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
- Optional: Choose at least 1 question relevant to one of the articles you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback with four tildes — GutmKate (talk) 04:18, 22 June 2017 (UTC).
- Assignment - What's due? Week 1
Wednesday (5/17): You should have completed all the assigned tasks in Step 1 above, including doing the trainings and reading the handouts. Be sure you have also introduced yourself to a classmate on their Talk page.
Sunday (5/21): You should have completed all the assigned tasks in Step 2 above including the article reviews and trainings. Use your ideas from the reviews to continue the discussion for this week.
Your Digital Literacy Narrative is also due by midnight Sunday through Turnitin.
Week 2
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 22 May 2017 | Tuesday, 23 May 2017 | Wednesday, 24 May 2017 | Thursday, 25 May 2017 | Friday, 26 May 2017
- Assignment - Step 3
- Copyedit an article
To flex your Wikipedia editing skills you're being ask to copyedit an article.
To start, take the "Sources & Citations" training (linked below).
Then, select an article from the Category:Technology in society article list to read and copyedit.
Read through it, thinking about ways to improve the language, such as fixing grammatical mistakes. Then, make the appropriate changes. You don’t need to contribute new information to the article.
- Assignment - Step 4
- Choose possible topics
- Review page 6 of your Editing Wikipedia guidebook.
- Look up 3-5 potential topics related to the course that you might want to update on Wikipedia. Review the content of the article and check the Talk page to see what other Wikipedians are already contributing. Identify one or two areas from each that you could improve.
- Choose 2-3 potential articles from that list that you can tackle, and post links to the articles and your notes about what you might improve in your sandbox.
- Finally, email your choices to your instructor for feedback.
- Assignment - What's due? Week 2
Wednesday (5/24): You should have finished all the elements of Step 3 above, including the trainings and copyediting a Wikipedia article. Use your experience copyediting to contribute to this week's discussion.
Sunday (5/28): You should have all the elements of Step 4 above complete, including a short list of possible articles that you are interested in working with for the final project. Make sure you have emailed me the links to the articles you are interested in.
This week, you will also turn in an essay evaluating a Wikipedia page.
Week 3
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 29 May 2017 | Tuesday, 30 May 2017 | Wednesday, 31 May 2017 | Thursday, 1 June 2017 | Friday, 2 June 2017
- Assignment - Step 5
- Finalize your topic / Find your sources
- Based on your instructor's feedback, on the Students tab, assign your chosen topic to yourself.
- Take the "Plagiarism" training, linked below.
- In your sandbox, write a few sentences about what you plan to contribute to the selected article.
- Think back to when you did an article critique. What can you add? Post some of your ideas to the article's talk page, too.
- Compile a list of relevant, reliable books, journal articles, or other sources. Post that bibliography to the talk page of the article you'll be working on, and in your sandbox. Make sure to check in on the Talk page to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.
- Assignment - Step 6
- Draft your article
You've picked a topic and found your sources. Now it's time to start writing.
To start, take the "Sandboxes and Mainspace" training. Then, get started on your draft.
Creating a new article?
- Write an outline of that topic in the form of a standard Wikipedia article's "lead section." Write it in your sandbox.
- A "lead" section is not a traditional introduction. It should summarize, very briefly, what the rest of the article will say in detail. The first paragraph should include important, broad facts about the subject. A good example is Ada Lovelace. See Editing Wikipedia page 9 for more ideas.
Improving an existing article?
- Identify what's missing from the current form of the article. Think back to the skills you learned while critiquing an article. Make notes for improvement in your sandbox.
At the end of this week you should have a complete first draft and your article should be ready for peer review.
- If you'd like a Content Expert to review your draft, now is the time! Click the "Get Help" button in your sandbox to request notes.
Resources: Editing Wikipedia pages 7–9
- Milestones
Everyone has begun writing their article drafts.
- Assignment - What's due? Week 3
Wednesday (5/31): You should have all the elements of Step 5 finished, including a list of relevant sources for your article. In total you should be contributing 5 sources to your article. For this week you need to identify at least 3 sources. Be sure to contribute as well to this week's discussion.
Sunday (6/4): You should have a completed all the elements in Step 6, including writing the first draft of your article improvements (at least 500 words plus 3 citations) in your sandbox. Please highlight any content you intend to revise as well so we can keep track of all the work you do. Your instructor will review your draft and provide comments. Also be sure to participate in the discussion for this week.
Your article draft is the only major writing due this week. Do not submit it through Turnitin.
Week 4
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 5 June 2017 | Tuesday, 6 June 2017 | Wednesday, 7 June 2017 | Thursday, 8 June 2017 | Friday, 9 June 2017
- Assignment - Step 7
- Peer review and copy edit
- First, take the "Peer Review" online training.
- Select two classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the Articles tab, find the articles that you want to review, and then assign them to yourself in the Review column.
- Peer review your classmates' drafts. Leave suggestions on on the Talk page of the article, or sandbox, that your fellow student is working on. Other editors may be reviewing your work, so look for their comments! Be sure to acknowledge feedback from other Wikipedians.
- As you review, make spelling, grammar, and other adjustments. Pay attention to the tone of the article. Is it encyclopedic?
- Be sure to have this finished by Wednesday June 7th in order for your classmates to have time this week to respond to your comments.
- Assignment - Step 8
- Respond to your peer review
You probably have some feedback from other students, your instructor, and possibly other Wikipedians. It's time to work with that feedback to improve your article!
- Read Editing Wikipedia pages 12 and 14.
- Return to your draft or article and think about the suggestions. Decide which ones to start implementing. Reach out to your instructor or your Content Expert if you have any questions.
- Milestones
Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
- Assignment - What's due? Week 4
Wednesday (6/7): You should have all the elements of Step 7 finished, specifically you should have completed a peer review on TWO of your classmates drafts. Do not forget to do the assigned training before you begin peer review.
Sunday (6/11): You should have finished the reading assigned in Step 8 above and begun revisions to your article using the feedback from your commenters. Your goal here is to leave the article better sourced and well written than you found it. This might mean significant additions, changes and revisions, or working in more sources depending on the needs of the articles and the comments from me, your fellow students and other Wikipedians.
The Wiki Ed Dashboard automatically tracks the comments you left on your peers Sandbox "talk" pages under your username on the Students tab. I'll be checking to make sure you've completed the required peer review and will be looking at your drafts for updates based on those notes.
This week, your argument essay is due by midnight on Sunday through Turnitin.
Week 5
- Course meetings
-
- Monday, 12 June 2017 | Tuesday, 13 June 2017 | Wednesday, 14 June 2017 | Thursday, 15 June 2017 | Friday, 16 June 2017
- Assignment - Step 9
- Begin moving your work to Wikipedia
Once you've made improvements to your article based on peer review feedback, it's time to move your work to Wikipedia proper - the "mainspace."
Editing an existing article?
- NEVER copy and paste your draft of an article over the entire article. Instead, edit small sections at a time.
- Copy your edits into the article. Make many small edits, saving each time, and leaving an edit summary. Never replace more than one to two sentences without saving!
- Be sure to copy text from your sandbox while the sandbox page is in 'Edit' or 'Edit source' mode. This ensures that the formatting is transferred correctly.
Creating a new article?
- Read Editing Wikipedia page 13, and follow those steps to move your article from your Sandbox to Mainspace.
- You can also review the [[../../../training/students/sandboxes|Sandboxes and Mainspace]] online training.
- Assignment - Step 10
- Polish your work
Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. You should be up to around 1000 words or more on your article length.
Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on suggestions and your own critique.
- Read Editing Wikipedia page 12 to see how to create links from your article to others, and from other articles to your own. Try to link to 3–5 articles, and link to your article from 2–3 other articles.
- Assignment - What's due? Week 5
Wednesday (6/14): As noted in Step 9, you should have moved your Wikipedia article, significantly revised from the draft and including a minimum of 5 citations, to the mainspace.
Sunday (6/18): As noted in Step 10 you should continue to polish your article, making sure it matches Wikipedia's tones and standards.
The Wiki Ed Dashboard has tracked your efforts to move your work live beneath your name on the Students tab above. I'll be looking to make sure your recent edits are happening not in your sandboxes but on your live article spaces!
Week 6
- Course meetings
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- Monday, 19 June 2017 | Tuesday, 20 June 2017 | Wednesday, 21 June 2017 | Thursday, 22 June 2017 | Friday, 23 June 2017
- Assignment - Step 11
- Final article
It's the final week to develop your article.
- Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.
- Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Content Expert at any time!
- Assignment - Step 12
- Reflective essay
Write a 1000 word essay that reflects on your experience editing Wikipedia, as well as your new digital literacy. The complete assignment sheet is on Moodle as usual.
- Milestones
Wednesday (6/21): As Step 11 states, you should finalize your article by using the checklist.
Sunday (6/25): By midnight your 1000 word reflection essay on the Wikipedia project is due through Turnitin.